Life Without a Smartphone: Not an Option

Are you one of the 75% to 80% reading this post with a smartphone in your pocket?

Maybe you're even reading this on your mobile device?

In a survey done in early 2011, 81% of physicians said they own a mobile device, and almost half of those who didn't planned to purchase one within the year.

Among more than 2,000 U.S. physicians interviewed by phone or online, 75% said they had purchased an Apple mobile device -- iPad, iPhone, or iPad, according to Manhattan Research's report Taking the Pulse U.S. v11.0.

Drug and treatment reference material have been the most common use among healthcare providers. Apps like UpToDate and Google searches provide physicians with current information on the spot, whether that spot is in the exam room, on the hospital floor, or in the gym when they're on call after hours.

In fact, the Internet is quickly becoming a healthcare provider's primary professional resource.

And mobile access has become even more indispensable to physicians as they continue to expand the range of activities they perform on smartphones.

Handling administrative tasks on a smartphone, for instance, frees the physician from the office. A smartphone app that presents the next day's full up-to-date patient appointment list gives the physician the ability to fit in a follow-up call or meeting without disrupting the office plans.

Remote access to EHRs provides physicians with a work-life balance while delivering a high quality of patient care. It seems obvious that using an EHR can improve the quality of care by allowing the physician to remotely access the patient's record when they are away from their office or the hospital. What is less obvious is the always-available access that a smartphone delivers.

Imagine the incoming call from the office answering service while a physician is out to dinner or shopping for dinner or riding in a car to dinner. There is little likelihood that he or she can find an available computer to log on to the Internet or a VPN (virtual private network) to connect to the EHR with that patient's information.

But with a smartphone, the problem of remote access is solved. The physician can most likely view a brief summary of the patient such as active problem and medication lists, the date of their last visit, and any upcoming appointments that are scheduled.

For an on-call physician covering for a partner, having access to the patient information is invaluable to maintain the continuity of the patient's treatment plan. Imagine how helpful it is to have the patient's allergies available when prescribing a medication.

Simply put, remote access improves the physician's ability to successfully manage that patient encounter. And isn't that what it's all about?

Email is another smartphone tool that's becoming essential for physicians. Although it was one of the earliest apps delivered in the business world, email connecting clinicians and administrative cohorts -- or even patients -- is a more recent smartphone success.

Now, the same physicians who complain that they don't like typing on a laptop or PC are walking around texting away on their iPhone -- relaying instructions to office staff, hospital personnel, colleagues, and patients -- and, optimally, improving patient care.

Life without a smartphone? For a healthcare provider, that's not an option anymore!